


Down Country Roads

by Evil_Little_Dog



Series: Little Things [133]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Community: fma_fic_contest, Extended Scene, Gen, Homecoming, Implied Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-24
Updated: 2013-09-24
Packaged: 2017-12-27 13:35:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/979549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Little_Dog/pseuds/Evil_Little_Dog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary:  Alphonse comes home.<br/>Disclaimer:  This isn't my world, or my characters.  Arakawa owns all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Down Country Roads

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kalirush](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalirush/gifts).



Animals know the way home. They can travel leagues to get back to the place where they were born. There are examples in almost every species, birds who travel around the world, turtles who swim the oceans, dogs and cats who disappear, then reappear, months, even years later, to their homes. Horses eagerly return to their barns without guidance, as do cows. That instinct has been employed and exploited by humans – birds and dogs carried messages during peace and war. 

Alphonse had never experienced this before. When he was a kid, and went to Dublith with Edward to train with Izumi, coming back to Risembool had only been interesting for one reason: at home, they could work on bringing their mother back from the dead. But that went wrong (so very wrong), and ‘home’ had no real meaning. When Edward got his military contract, they burned down the house (where they’d lived, with their mother), so they could leave it behind without any remorse (no more memories, burn them out, turn them into ashes, because ashes can’t haunt like an empty house, and what had been in the basement on that last night). 

Returning to Risembool had felt like a failure – especially the way they arrived, four years after they’d left – both of them in pieces. Even though they had good reason for their return, the need for it rankled. They’d lost in a fight, and Edward had needed a new arm, and Alphonse had been in so many pieces, he looked like a puzzle. Edward had hated being there, chafing at the three days they spent in Risembool. Alphonse had no real opinion, one way or another. It wasn’t like he could leave until Edward had a new arm, anyway, but as soon as he did, Alphonse had his body back, too. And then, they’d left, not even looking back on their way to Central City. 

It had been the biggest city Alphonse had ever visited, but he hadn’t paid much attention, too busy listening to Edward grouse about their bodyguards, too busy trying to keep them from figuring out he was an empty suit of armor with a soul attached. Too busy trying to crack Dr. Marcoh’s code about the Philosopher’s Stone, and, after they’d done that, the horror had left Alphonse wishing he could feel a chill, the way his brother obviously had. 

It had been Alphonse’s first taste of the grandeur of a capital city. He’d toyed with the idea, that maybe, once he had his body back, he might return there to live. It would always be exciting. There were schools there, where he could continue to learn and hone his skills. There were pretty girls, too (even in armor, Alphonse had _noticed_ ). And suddenly, there was something from Risembool in Central City – Winry came, to take care of Edward’s most recent automail problem. 

When they were away from Risembool, it could be forgotten, just a sleepy village, populated more by sheep than humans. But when Winry arrived, Risembool couldn’t be shoved into the backs of their minds. She appeared, and everything flooded back – all the hopes and dreams Alphonse had as a child; all the things he wanted to accomplish. All the things he still wanted to do, that he couldn’t do while he was in armor. And that, more than anything, strengthened his resolve. He had to keep moving forward, find a way to get their bodies back, before he could even let himself dream of anything else, of the cute girls in Central, or the schools, or anything beyond learning more, gathering all the knowledge they could until what they knew could return their real lives to them. 

Now, they’d done that very thing, and finally, they were on the country road that led to home. 

“Are you okay, Al?” Edward asked. “If you’re tired, I could carry you the rest of the way.” 

Alphonse shook his head. “I’m letting you carry me. We walked away from Risembool together, we’re walking back together. I just need a couple of minutes more to rest.” 

“Okay.” Edward ran a hand over his hair, making his bangs stand up for a few seconds, before gravity pulled them down. “Did you ever really think that we’d be coming back to Risembool?”

An interesting question. Alphonse considered it for a few seconds. “Animals do come home to mate.” 

Edward squawked, blushing hard. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he stammered. 

Grinning widely, Alphonse situated his crutches under his arms, using them to help him stand up again. “I think I made myself pretty clear. Humans are animals, after all, and animals have a homing instinct.” 

“Shut up,” Edward growled, his face still bright red. 

“And,” Alphonse took a deep breath, his smile tendering somewhat, “we’ve got a family we’ve kept waiting for ‘way too long.” He gave Edward a pointed look. 

“Yeah, well…you’ve got a princess waiting for you.” 

“She’ll be okay.” Alphonse nodded. “ _She_ knows we’re alive. That I’ve got my body back.” He swiped at Edward with his crutch, making his brother swear and dance sideways. “You didn’t call Winry and Granny!”

“Because it’s better if it’s a surprise!” Edward howled, rubbing his thigh. 

“Better, sure, you’d better hope Winry hasn’t found a new boyfriend.” Alphonse hobbled ahead of his brother, trying to get out of the blast range before the Ed-explosion went off. 

It really was good to be home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Extended scene for 108.


End file.
